Even though I wasn’t going to race, I was going to ride. Up bright and early and took a leisurely 58km ride to get to Shimoufusa Friendly Park race venue. Here is the route I took

This is the first Seo Festival that I watched as a spectator and not a participant.
Having been dropped in my level where I am borderline too slow and with recent injuries I decided to watch from the sidelines.

Last year a lot of guys got dropped in my race but this year I didn’t see any fall off the back. Was it a slow pace or were they all just fit and strong enough to hold on. The Bridgestone Anchor pros were trailing at the back like last year.

My Wednesday night training pal from Apex was (I thought going to win this). When I saw him flying up the hill at the finish I thought he had it in the bag too. The motor bike however had blocked the view of the actuall 1st, 2nd & 3rd placers. Luckily it was a guy in my team who came flying over the finish line in first. Much deserved win for Miyaji who had also won the Tour of Japan Oi stage. Feeling a little dissapointed with his Hitachinaka place he was out for revenge.
This is one of the best finishes with arms held high I’ve seen in a long time. I was at the finish line with my video camera ready.

My friend form TCC however had a very bad result. After coming 4th last year in his first race we thought for sure he was going to win easily this year. coming up the final lap in the lead group it looked like he had it in the bad as well…

Back to the drawing board for me. I really need to re-motivate and prepare myself for a C grade race. Probably the same plan as last year…warm up at the Tour Of Japan in Oi and then try my luck at Hitachinaka again. I’m already behind in training compared to last winter though…